Islamic State frees 200 Yazidis in Iraq after 8 months in captivity

[JihadiJohn]

Islamic State frees 200 Yazidis in Iraq after 8 months in captivity

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 09 April, 2015, 7:46am
UPDATED : Thursday, 09 April, 2015, 5:44pm

Associated Press in Baghdad

Yazidis released by Islamic State group militants rest as they arrive in Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, Iraq. Photo: AP

The Islamic State group released more than 200 Yazidis yesterday after holding them for eight months, an Iraqi Kurdish security official said, the latest mass release of captives by the extremists.

General Hiwa Abdullah, a peshmerga commander in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said most of the freed 216 prisoners were in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. He added that about 40 children were among those released, while the rest were elderly.



No reason was given for the release of the prisoners who were originally abducted from the area around Sinjar in the country's north. The handover took place in Himera just southwest of Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad.

The freed Yazidis were taken away by ambulances and buses to receive treatment and care.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled in August when the Islamic State group captured the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. But hundreds were taken captive by the group, with some Yazidi women forced into slavery, according to international rights groups and Iraqi officials.

In January, the Islamic State group released around 200 Yazidi prisoners as well. At the time, Kurdish military officials said they believed the extremists released the prisoners as they were too much of a burden.

The Islamic State group, targeted by US-led airstrikes and by Iraqi ground forces, still holds about a third of Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate.